Ideal Homes of the Thirties

By Ideal Homes and Daniel Reiff

Adapted from a rare 1933 catalog, this volume showcases sixty plans for two-story houses. It features photographs (most in full color), floor plans, and descriptive text that depict a splendid variety of economic styles, including colonial, mission, foursquare, and bungalow. Each house appears in a two-page spread, forming an elegant and highly readable presentation.
The Plan Service Company of St. Paul, Minnesota, published a series of Ideal Homes catalogs in the 1920s and '30s. This particular issue has been long out of print, and its reissue offers professional architects and armchair renovators alike an authentic look at houses of the era. Daniel D. Reiff, an expert on vintage house design catalogs, provides an informative introduction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Release date: Jan 16, 2013
• ISBN: 9780486136653

Book preview

DOVER BOOKS ON ARCHITECTURE

NEW YORK’S FABULOUS LUXURY APARTMENTS: WITH ORIGINAL FLOOR PLANS FROM THE DAKOTA, RIVER HOUSE, OLYMPIC TOWER AND OTHER GREAT BUILDINGS, ANDREW ALPERN. (0-486-25318-X)

VITRUVIUS BRITANNICUS: SECOND SERIES, J. BADESLADE, J. ROCQUE, JOHN WOOLFE AND JAMES GANDON. (0-486-46890-9)

BARBER’S TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY HOUSES: ELEVATIONS AND FLOOR PLANS, GEORGE F. BARBER & CO. (0-486-46527-6)

THE AMERICAN BUILDER’S COMPANION, ASHER BENJAMIN. (0-486-22236-5)

VICTORIAN WOODEN AND BRICK HOUSES WITH DETAILS, A. J. BICKNELL & CO. (0-486-45103-8)

BICKNELL’S VICTORIAN BUILDINGS, A. J. BICKNELL & CO. (0-486-23904-7)

VICTORIAN WOODTURNINGS AND WOODWORK, BLUMER & KUHN STAIR CO. (0-486-45114-3)

OLD MEXICO: AN ARCHITECTURAL PILGRIMAGE, ALFRED C. BOSSOM. (0-486-43638-1)

THE GARGOYLE BOOK: 572 EXAMPLES FROM GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE, LESTER BURBANK BRIDAHAM. (0-486-44754-5)

100 SMALL HOUSES OF THE THIRTIES, BROWN-BLODGETT COMPANY. (0-486-44131-8)

BEAUTIFUL BUNGALOWS OF THE TWENTIES, BUILDING AGE PUBLISHING CORPORATION. (0-486-43193-2)

VITRUVIUS BRITANNICUS: THE CLASSIC OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH ARCHITECTURE, COLEN CAMPBELL. (0-486-44799-5)

ELEGANT SMALL HOMES OF THE TWENTIES: 99 DESIGNS FROM A COMPETITION, CHICAGO TRIBUNE. (0-486-46910-7)

1000 TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY HOUSES: WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND FLOOR PLANS, HERBERT C. CHIVERS. (0-486-45596-3)

VICTORIAN HOUSE DESIGNS IN AUTHENTIC FULL COLOR: 75 PLATES FROM THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN — ARCHITECTS AND BUILDERS EDITION, 1885-1894, EDITED BY BLANCHE CIRKER. (0-486-29438-2)

COUNTRY AND SUBURBAN HOUSES OF THE TWENTIES: WITH PHOTOGRAPHS AND FLOOR PLANS, EDITED BY BERNARD WELLS CLOSE. (0-486-43631-4)

AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES OF THE THIRTIES: WITH PHOTOGRAPHS AND FLOOR PLANS, LEWIS A. COFFIN. (0-486-45592-0)

THE POWER OF BUILDINGS, 1920-1950: A MASTER DRAFTSMAN’S RECORD, HUGH FERRISS. (0-486-46920-4)

FLAGG’S SMALL HOUSES: THEIR ECONOMIC DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION, 1922, ERNEST FLAGG. (0-486-45197-6)

CLASSIC MODERN HOMES OF THE THIRTIES: 64 DESIGNS BY NEUTRA, GROPIUS, BREUER, STONE AND OTHERS, JAMES FORD AND KATHERINE MORROW FORD. (0-486-25927-7)

SMALL HOUSES OF THE FORTIES: WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND FLOOR PLANS, HAROLD E. GROUP. (0-486-45598-X)

101 CLASSIC HOMES OF THE TWENTIES: FLOOR PLANS AND PHOTOGRAPHS, HARRIS, MCHENRY & BAKER Co. (O-486-40731-4)

AUTHENTIC VICTORIAN VILLAS AND COTTAGES: OVER 100 DESIGNS WITH ELEVATIONS AND FLOOR PLANS, ISAAC HOBBS. (0-486-44351-5)

ELEGANT COUNTRY AND SUBURBAN HOUSES OF THE TWENTIES, EDITED BY CHARLES S. KEEFE. (0-486-44216-0)

100 TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY BRICK BUNGALOWS WITH FLOOR PLANS, ROGERS & MANSON. (0-486-28119-1)

THE ART DECO STYLE, EDITED BY THEODORE MENTEN. (0-486-22824-X)

FLORIDA ARCHITECTURE OF ADDISON MIZNER, ADDISON MIZNER (0-486-27327-X)

JAPANESE HOMES AND THEIR SURROUNDINGS, EDWARD S. MORSE. (0-486-20746-3)

124 DISTINCTIVE HOUSE DESIGNS AND FLOOR PLANS, 1929, NATIONAL BUILDING PUBLICATIONS. (0-486-42331-X)

SMALLER HOUSES OF THE 1920s: 55 EXAMPLES, ETHEL B. POWER (0-486-46049-5)

THE MOST POPULAR HOMES OF THE TWENTIES. WILLIAM A. RADFORD. WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY DANIEL D. REIFF. (O-486-47028-8)

EARLY VICTORIAN HOUSE DESIGNS, WILLIAM H. RANLETT. (0-486-44863-0)

HENRY HOBSON RICHARDSON AND His WORKS, MARIANA GRISWOLD VAN RENSSELAER (0-486-22320-5)

AUTHENTIC COLOR SCHEMES FOR VICTORIAN HOUSES: COMSTOCK’S MODERN HOUSE PAINTING, 1883, E. K. ROSSITER AND F. A. WRIGHT. (0-486-41774-3)

SEARS MODERN HOMES, 1913, SEARS, ROEBUCK AND Co. (0-486-45264-6)

SMALL HOUSES OF THE TWENTIES: THE SEARS, ROEBUCK 1926 HOUSE CATALOG, SEARS, ROEBUCK AND Co. (0-486-26709-1)

SEARS HOUSE DESIGNS OF THE THIRTIES, SEARS, ROEBUCK AND Co. (0-486-42994-6)

110 TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY HOUSE DESIGNS, ROBERT W. SHOPPELL. (O-486-44768-5)

500 SMALL HOUSES OF THE TWENTIES, HENRY ATTERBURY SMITH. (0-486-26300-2)

BEST HOMES OF THE 1920s, STANDARD HOMES COMPANY. (0-486-45430-4)

CRAFTSMAN HOMES, GUSTAV STICKLEY. (0-486-23791-5)

CRAFTSMAN BUNGALOWS: 59 HOMES FROM THE CRAFTSMAN, EDITED BY GUSTAV STICKLEY. (0-486-25829-7)

MORE CRAFTSMAN HOMES, GUSTAV STICKLEY. (0-486-24252-8)

FORM AND DESIGN IN CLASSIC ARCHITECTURE, ARTHUR STRATION. (0-486-43405-2)

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN IDEA, LOUIS H. SULLIVAN. (0-486-20281-X)

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Copyright

Introduction to the Dover edition copyright © 2010 by Daniel D. Reiff All rights reserved.

Bibliographical Note

This Dover edition, first published in 2010, is an unabridged republication of the eleventh edition of Ideal Homes: Two-Story Houses, originally published by the Plan Service Company, St. Paul, Minnesota, ca. 1933. The illustrations, floor plans, and accompanying text for the sixty house designs have been rearranged as two-page spreads to better fit the trim size of the present volume. A new introduction by Daniel D. Reiff has been specially prepared for this edition.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ideal homes.

Ideal homes of the thirties / with a new introduction by Daniel D. ReifF.—Dover ed. p. cm.

Originally published: Ideal homes : two-story houses. 11th ed. St. Paul, Minn. : Plan Service Co., ca. 1933.

Includes bibliographical references.

9780486136653

1. Architecture, Domestic—United States—Designs and plans. 2. Architecture—United States—History—20th century—Designs and plans. I. Plan Service Company (Saint Paul, Minn.) II. Title.

NA7208.I32 2010

728.0973—dc22

2009029287

Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation

47255801

www.doverpublications.com

Table of Contents

DOVER BOOKS ON ARCHITECTURE

Title Page

Copyright Page

Introduction to the Dover Edition

Foreword

IDEAL HOMES - of